Big Boys Hobbies

Native patterned artifact

007tallguy

007tallguy

Elite Member
Joined
Oct 17, 2010
Messages
7,372
Location
Nova Scotia, Canada, eh.
nope, this item isn't the usual arrowhead or anything like that.

i've been unable to find anything like this online anywhere, but it's brass, about 6 inches long and an inch wide. the patterns on it are stamped as opposed to being etched and the pattern repeats itself.
there's a small hole punched in each end, so it was likely nailed to "something", i just don't know to what. :?:
besides the images of the guys carrying the canoe, the tee pee, the campfire and even a couple of birds flying around, it has Native style images and designs along the top and bottom. even a Swastika! (lower right hand side in the "shiny" photo.)
i found it during a woods hunt in what had once been a small cattle pasture (a small, fenced in area, now totally overgrown with bushes/trees) and it was about 5 inches deep. of course, it may or may not have any relation to cattle, lol.
if anyone has any ideas on what it might have been or what it was used for (maybe decoration for something..???) i'd love to hear your ideas. :)

thanks,

Pete
 

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I remember seeing that in your finds post, I was wondering what it was, Id like to know too.
 
yes, it's been a puzzler to me. :?:
the best term i can use to describe it is a brass strap. too light and too thin to be a handle for from anything. maybe a saddle decoration, off of a wagon, a trunk, heck maybe a jewelry box, haha.
i just thought i'd try to see if i could get any info on here. i don't really want to resort to sending images to the museum if i don't have to. :no:
 
How wide and how long? And can you bend it? Natives would wear metal armbands. They were primarily silver, but brass was used as well. Yours could be ceremonial the way it's stamped.
I think the holes were added later.
 
mark_painter said:
How wide and how long? And can you bend it? Natives would wear metal armbands. They were primarily silver, but brass was used as well. Yours could be ceremonial the way it's stamped.
I think the holes were added later.
Click to expand...

:goodpost::interesting: hey.... that sounds great! it never crossed my mind that it could have been an arm band, but that's a very good possibility! it's about 6 inches long and an inch wide, and those dimensions would be just about right for a bracelet/armband!
the holes in the ends just look like simple nail holes punched in it at one point, so someone must have used it for something else at one time. it is currently bent almost double and knowing what old metal is like, i've chosen NOT to try straightening it for fear of cracking it.
thanks a million! :yes:

Pete
 
Dont think it is native due to the mix of symboligy. Also it is pressed/embossed and not ingraved. My guess is a decorative strap for some sort of box. Prob 40s or 50s. Just my opinion. A very nice find. would love to have somthing like it in my collection.
 
mark_painter said:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-NAVAJO-BRASS-BRACELET-W-SWASTIKA-TEEPEE-SYMBOLS-/250870440021

Bingo
Click to expand...

:whoohoo::gottaluv:
thank you very much for the info!!! how many thousand images did i look through on google and i couldn't find anything identical to this piece. the one word i neglected to use in my searching was "Navajo". to my knowledge there were no Navajo's in this area. :?: or perhaps there was at least one. ;)

i've seen it said here many times before and now it's my turn to say it: you guys rock!!! :D

Pete
 
007tallguy said:
:whoohoo::gottaluv:
thank you very much for the info!!! how many thousand images did i look through on google and i couldn't find anything identical to this piece. the one word i neglected to use in my searching was "Navajo". to my knowledge there were no Navajo's in this area. :?: or perhaps there was at least one. ;)

i've seen it said here many times before and now it's my turn to say it: you guys rock!!! :D

Pete
Click to expand...

My "guess" is someone from your area probably visited the southwest and bought it as a souvenir.
 
The swastika is a common symbol used by the Navajo so that makes sense that it would be on the Navajo bracelet. Appears to have a little value as well if you can get it back in shape and clean it up. Congrats.
 
To reform it, try wrapping it around a pipe, maybe 2" in diameter. Take a rubber mallet & lightly tap it all around. Maybe the holes were punched to allow a small piece of leather to be attached to each end.
 
Esteban said:
To reform it, try wrapping it around a pipe, maybe 2" in diameter. Take a rubber mallet & lightly tap it all around. Maybe the holes were punched to allow a small piece of leather to be attached to each end.
Click to expand...

If your going to try and reform it I'd consider annealing the brass first since your piece is probably more than 70 years old. Once annealed, you should be able to reform it without it breaking.

In reading up on the Swastika, it looks like quite a few tribes used it prior to the war. It was especially prevalent in the south-eastern tribes.
 
That's not authentic Native artwork. I'm Native and have lived around Natives all my life. That is like someone else said a mixture of symbols. The first thought that crossed my mind seriously was someone purposely buried a bogus Native looking artifact as a joke hoping someone years later would come across it. The Swastika was also used by the Cherokee. I lived in Arizona for 12 years and knew many Navajo. That is not Navajo symbols and it is not Cherokee either. I'm pretty sure its also not from any other tribe in the US. Maybe a New Ager lost his fake Indian bracelet.
 
hillbillydigger said:
That's not authentic Native artwork. I'm Native and have lived around Natives all my life. That is like someone else said a mixture of symbols. The first thought that crossed my mind seriously was someone purposely buried a bogus Native looking artifact as a joke hoping someone years later would come across it. The Swastika was also used by the Cherokee. I lived in Arizona for 12 years and knew many Navajo. That is not Navajo symbols and it is not Cherokee either. I'm pretty sure its also not from any other tribe in the US. Maybe a New Ager lost his fake Indian bracelet.
Click to expand...

interesting and strongly worded insight.
so... just so i get it right, i basically have nothing more than another piece of trash, correct? ok, i'm cool with that.
i'm glad i'm not the one who swindled that buyer on ebay with one of these fakes! ain't he gonna be pee'd when he finds out! :shock:

thanks for the info.
 
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